1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner and a method for controlling the air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner that is designed to stably inject refrigerant to a compressor and a method for controlling the air conditioner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an air conditioner is a system that keeps air cool and warm using a refrigeration cycle including an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an indoor heat exchanger. That is, the air conditioner may be designed to have a cooling device for keeping indoor air cool and a heating device for keeping indoor air warm. Alternatively, the air conditioner may be designed to have a device with both cooling and heating functions.
When the air conditioner is designed to have the device with both the cooling and heating functions, the air conditioner includes a converting unit for converting a flow passage of refrigerant compressed by a compressor in accordance with an operational condition (i.e., a cooling operation and a heating operation). That is, in the cooling operation, refrigerant compressed by the compressor is directed to the outdoor heat exchanger through the converting unit. At this point, the outdoor heat exchanger functions as a condenser. Refrigerant condensed by the outdoor heat exchanger expands in an expansion valve and is introduced into the indoor heat exchanger. At this point, the indoor heat exchanger functions as a vaporizer. Refrigerant vaporized by the indoor heat exchanger is redirected into the compressor through the converting unit.
The air conditioner improves its efficiency by injecting a portion of refrigerant condensed in the heating or cooling operation into the compressor.